Rosalie slammed into me from above as she launched herself out of a tree. I hit the ground and rolled, trying to get up, but she pushed me back onto the ground and caught my wrists, holding them down in the dirt. I yanked my arms free with a snarl. She was strong, but in our Fae forms I had the upper hand. I dropped my hands to her waist, trying to ignore the sight of her tits in the light of the moon, looking so suckable I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from claiming them.
“One of us has to submit,” I hissed. “And it needs to be you.”
“You’re so dramatic, Ethan,” Rosalie purred and I threw her off of me into the mud, rolling fast and crushing my chest to hers to keep her down.
“Submit,” I demanded again and she laughed that musical laugh of hers that lit me up from the inside. My hard-on ground into her leg, throbbing and undermining me so fucking hard. She sucked in a breath and her eyes glittered with mirth, cutting me to ribbons.
“You’re giving me mixed signals,” she teased and her breath fluttered over my mouth, calling to me stronger than the moon ever had.
“Stop it,” I growled. “Get out of my head.”
She lifted her legs and locked them around my hips. I was half a second from losing my mind when she shoved her weight forward and forced us to roll over once more so she was on top again. We were covered in mud and blood from our fight and the dirtier she got, the better she fucking looked.
Why is she so damn tempting?
I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore the desperate need pulling at the base of my spine and lunged forward to grab her throat again. She knocked my hand aside and sprang off of me, running away into the woods once more.
“Enough!” I bellowed, pushing myself up and running after her, my body trembling with need. I had to be strong, I had to finish her. I definitely, definitely had to ignore my other instincts.
She circled back toward the clearing and I ran to catch her with a snarl. I was about to shift once more when she turned and dropped down to kneel before me.
My heart leapt with joy. She was submitting, right on her knees like the most obedient Beta I’d ever seen. She kept her eyes on mine, not bowing as I slowed to a walk, approaching her and swallowing hard. I just needed her to say it. The two words that would unleash me from this hell. Unbind me from this temptress.
I cupped her jaw in my hand with the cockiest smirk I’d ever worn. “That’s it, love. Say it.”
She rolled her eyes at me and my brows tugged together in confusion. I opened my mouth to push her harder for the words when she leaned forward and took my cock between her lips.
“Sweet fuck,” I gasped as she took me all the way in – which was a fucking feat in itself – and I tipped my head back with a groan of pure bliss.
No…no no no. Not good.
But so good. Oh so fucking good.
Maybe she was just building up to submitting, but right then it felt like she held me in her fist and could crush me at any moment. I was hers to do whatever the fuck she wanted with. I was completely deluded if I really thought this was going to end in her bowing to me. But oh shit, maybe I’d just buy into that belief a little longer…
I cracked my eyes open to gaze at the moon, begging for it to give me the strength I needed to fight Rosalie into the ground, but if anything the moon just urged her on.
You bulbous glowy slut, I hate you.
Rosalie released me from her mouth and jumped to her feet. She grinned victoriously then turned her back on me. The biggest fucking insult you could offer a Fae and she did it right after sucking my cock. What the hell has she done to me??
A growl rumbled through my chest and I snapped. Fucking lost it.
I snatched a fistful of her hair and forced her around to face me. She was still smiling like she knew something I didn’t, but I had no resolve to pause and question what. I leaned down and snatched hold of her thighs, hoisting her up and slamming her back against the nearest tree. Her eyes blazed as she clutched my neck with sharp nails, the need in her eyes clear. For a moment this wasn’t just some game or some fight, we both gave in to each other, to this screaming desire that filled the space between us.
Her forehead dropped to mine, her eyes burning with a silent plea and a fundamental part of me needed to answer it.
I positioned my aching length at her entrance and squeezed her hips as I claimed her with one hard thrust. She cried out as I took her mercilessly, driving her back into the hard bark as every rock of my hips had me almost coming already.
Her body tightened around me as her mouth found mine in the dark. We kissed hungrily like it was our last meal and I didn’t come up for air until I absolutely fucking had to. I was lost to her spell, forcing myself into her body with powerful thrusts. It felt like we were driving towards a cliff together, like she was my ride or die and the cops were after us with flashing lights. We were gonna end this together, united, and I didn’t give a fuck if that was wrong.
I was on the verge of breaking apart when I remembered the moon. Remembered that this was how Wolves became mated. Screwing under a full moon with your equal was almost guaranteed to make you bond.
“No – wait,” I gasped, but her nails dug into my shoulders and her mouth fell to my ear, her hot tongue running circles around the shell until I lost my damn mind.
“Rosalie – moon – no,” I choked out.
“I need you Ethan, please don’t stop,” she panted, her body clutching me again as she started to quiver on the edge of oblivion.
That primal part of me reawakened and I simply had to give her this. I quickened my pace, my fingers digging into her skin and smearing the muck that lined her flesh.
She came apart, screaming my name with her whole body shaking and I felt every second of her pleasure like it was my own. A howl fell from my lungs as I finished, filling her with every inch of myself. I collapsed to the ground, taking her with me so she lay over me.
We panted heavily and the weight of her felt so right, I immediately wrapped my arms around her and held her close. She was what I’d been missing in my cell night after night. And now I had her, I didn’t want to let go.
She lifted her head and the moon haloed her as she gazed down at me. She looked like a fallen angel, a perfect being made just for me. I tucked a lock of inky hair behind her ear, knowing this was wrong but unable to deny how right it felt. The moon seemed to shine even brighter and the glow of it felt like it was spilling into my soul until it filled up every space inside me.
A gasp fell from Rosalie’s lips and she braced herself on the ground either side of my head as the moonlight surrounded her, seeming to shine from within her flesh. It took me a moment longer to realise my skin was shimmering too and I inhaled as something shifted inside my chest. All of my pack instincts, every Wolf need and desire I had suddenly angled toward her. She was the answer to everything. My equal in every way. My mate.
“Fuck,” I exhaled, dropping my head back onto the ground and turning away from her. Because this was the worst thing I’d ever done. I’d betrayed my pack. I’d mated with an Oscura. Our mortal enemies. If they ever found out, they’d drive me from the pack, they’d banish me for good.
“Ethan,” Rosalie breathed, reaching out to trace something behind my ear. “You’re marked.”
I pushed her hand away, sitting upright and a tug in my chest made me hate myself for being so cold with her. But how could I accept this?
I gripped her chin, pushing her head sideways and forcing her hair behind her right ear. There was a crescent shaped mark there like a silvery tattoo. The mark of the moon. The mark of my mate.
I pushed her off of me, rising to my feet with fear clawing at my insides. “Tell anyone about this and you’re dead,” I said in a low tone and her lips pursed as she rose to her feet.
“Good luck killing me, Ethan. You can’t hurt me now, your instincts won’t let you.”
“I can have someone else do it,” I spat, but even as I said it my heart shattered at the mere
idea. I needed to protect her, hold her, stand at her side in all things. Fuck no no no.
She laughed coldly. “Well make sure they do it quick, because you’ll feel my pain now too. Goodbye mate.” She turned and shifted into her Wolf form, charging off into the trees and I was left with the most desperate feeling that I needed to follow.
The door rattled and I gasped as I looked over the heap of furniture I’d managed to pile against it with fear clawing at my insides.
“What’s the matter, baby girl?” Papà’s voice cooed as he gave up on trying to force it and laced his words with sugar. “You don’t think I’m still mad at you, do you?”
There were no windows in this room. Not since the last time when I’d smashed right through them and dropped three floors to escape.
He’d caught me easily enough anyway. I could still taste the reward I’d gotten for that stunt in the swelling of my tongue. No one here ever helped me or healed me when he was done with one of his lessons. The only person to offer me healing magic was Papà himself and he only ever did it if my injuries were severe enough or if I miraculously managed to pass one of his tests.
“If you open up like a good girl, you won’t have to go in the den,” he promised. “Just come on out and show your papà how sorry you are and we can forget everything…”
I licked my cracked lips, wondering if there was any truth to his words or if I was a fool to hope for that.
“Last chance, poppet,” Papà’s voice dropped an octave as his temper began to thin and I lurched forward, yanking the creaky bed and broken chest of drawers away from the door.
I pulled it open, whimpering as I looked into his eyes and finding nothing but cold, hard fury there.
“I thought you were going to show some backbone then, runt,” he taunted. “But it looks like you’re just a disappointment once more.”
I gasped as he lunged for me and I tried to duck around him but he was too fast, grasping a fistful of my hair and almost lifting me off of my feet so that he could glare into my eyes.
“Don’t you have a kiss for your papà, runt?” he growled.
I whimpered again, scrambling forward so that I could place my lips against the rough whiskers which lined his jaw. He stank of cheap whiskey and old cigars and the mean look in his eye said he’d had too much of both tonight.
“Maybe a night in the den will help your spine to strengthen?” he hissed.
“No, Papà!” I yelped as I tried to scrabble out of his hold but he only laughed as he hauled me along, using my hair like a leash.
He dragged me out of the house and my heart thundered as I spotted the pit he’d dug at the far end of the lawn. It was five meters deep and two across. If he threw me in there again I wouldn’t be getting out until he got a member of his pack with Earth magic to help me.
“I’ll do better!” I cried, my fingers digging into his wrist as I tried to pry him off of me.
Several of his Wolves lounged in the yard, sitting around a bonfire set away from the pit as they swigged from beer bottles and got high on briarweed. Their eyes followed our progress across the lawn but I found no pity in their gaze. And I’d long since stopped hoping for help from any of them. Most of the time they acted like I didn’t exist at all. And if any of them did pay me attention, it was only ever a bad thing.
“If you do manage to be better then maybe you won’t have to come out here again,” Papà muttered like this was nothing more than a minor irritation to him.
We reached the muddy hole in the ground which he liked to call the den and he snatched my arm into his other hand as he prepared to toss me in.
Fear bled through me like a building storm and a ferocious growl tore from my lips.
I lunged at him with a snarl of defiance, sinking my teeth into his forearm and biting down so hard that I tasted blood.
Papà yelped in surprise and pain, his grip tightening in my hair as he fought to yank me off of him again.
I snarled as I fought to cling on, my teeth ripping into his flesh and spilling more blood as my heart pounded a heady rhythm.
His fist connected with my gut and my jaw unlocked as I coughed out a breath, pain splintering through my frail body.
“Better,” he growled, his cold gaze meeting mine as a smile almost graced his lips. “A little more of that next time and you might avoid the den altogether.”
His hand slammed into my chest and I screamed as I fell backwards, toppling over the edge and colliding with the cold mud at the bottom of the pit.
Papà looked down at me for a long moment, the moon lighting his cruel features as he surveyed his youngest and least wanted child.
“Sweet dreams, runt. I’ll see you in the morning for your next trial.”
My bottom lip trembled as he left me alone and my vision blurred as tears blocked my view of the moon. I counted down from thirty until I heard the back door bang closed again and I let myself howl.
The mournful sound poured from my lips and my skin began to shiver as the shift came over me.
I’d always been more comfortable in my Wolf form anyway so I didn’t resist the change as it swept through my body but once I had, I couldn’t help but howl again.
I curled myself up tight in an attempt to keep warm down in the den but I was already shivering.
My mind focused on the promise Papà had made before he left me here. I’d have to attempt the trial again tomorrow. And this time I needed to pass. Because if I failed for a second time then I’d be begging for a night in the den as punishment and the alternative didn’t bear thinking about…
My pulse leapt and pounded like it had back in that fucking hole in the ground when I was eight as I jerked awake. Fifteen years wasn’t long enough to entirely block out those memories but I absolutely refused to acknowledge them in the cold light of day.
I growled as I fought to recover my composure. I couldn’t afford to let my armour slip for a single second in this place, so I stuffed the nightmares of my past as deep down behind my walls as I could manage and forced my mind away from them.
I frowned as I spotted the open door to my cell. I’d almost slept right through our cell block’s allotted time in the showers and after the night I’d had, I was most definitely in need of a shower. I was filthy in all the right ways and all the wrong ways too and I really needed to wash the mud off of my flesh after spending so much time rolling about in it.
Not that I was complaining.
Luckily, my little choir boy had been on duty when I’d returned from the Order Yard and he’d healed me of my wounds without me even having to ask.
I stepped out of my cell and walked straight into Pudding’s gigantic belly. It was like hitting a fucking wall and I cursed as I fell back onto my ass, staring up at him with a growl.
“Watch it,” he muttered and I fought against the desire to bite back at him, remembering Roary’s suggestion that I make friends with my neighbour.
“Oh hey, Pudding,” I said sweetly, despite my irritation. He just looked at me like he was wondering what I was doing on the floor so I barrelled on. “I actually got something for you yesterday, but I didn’t see you before lockdown.”
“What did you get?” he asked, offering me a hairy hand.
I took it and he heaved me upright so fast that my head damn near spun. I ducked back into my cell and grabbed the pot of pudding from my shelf before holding it out to him.
“I heard you like-”
He snatched it without a word and lumbered back into his cell.
My lips parted and I stalked after him, frowning as I looked at the heap of shit that filled his cell. He didn’t glance back my way, but the look on his face as he added the new pudding pot to the mountain was almost serene. A smile tugged at his lips and his hairy brows raised. He took real care, lining it up just right and a satisfied groan escaped him as he stepped back to appreciate his masterpiece.
It still looked like one big old pile of shit to me, but I could tell just how much it matt
ered to him.
Which meant that me giving him the pot meant a lot to him too. We were practically besties already.
I turned away with a grin, leaving him to bathe in the glory of his mess as I went in search of that shower.
I bit my lip as I hurried down the metal staircases with my wash stuff in hand. I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear, tracing the slightly raised mark which the moon had gifted me and Ethan when we were mated.
I definitely hadn’t been expecting that to happen but I wasn’t exactly upset about it, either. I’d been meaning to win him over to my side and now he would only want to help me more. It was perfect really. Assuming we ignored the whole the-stars-have-picked-us-for-each-other-forever side of things. I still wasn’t entirely convinced on that part. He was Lunar Brotherhood after all and even if he wasn’t, was I really ready to just close the door on the idea of me ever being with any guy apart from him ever again? He might have been fucking exceptional in the sack, but that was pretty much all I knew about him. So no. I wasn’t jumping up and down in the hopes of saying I do any time soon. But I was all for using this bond between us to further my plans. And of course at the moment he was off pouting about the whole thing anyway, swearing me to secrecy like we were thirteen year old girls at a sleepover. But that was fine. He could take his time to lick his wounded pride and when he couldn’t resist the pull he felt toward me anymore, he’d come scurrying back to my side.
The showers were quiet as I jogged into them, passing the guards who stood in the corridor to check that we didn’t get any ideas about trying to go anywhere other than the showers. Not that we had any options with the steel doors lowered over the stairwells. They’d only raise them when we were permitted to head on up to the second floor for breakfast and there was absolutely no way through them without an ID pass and a magical signature scan until then.
And I had no intention of trying to go about any of my plans in such an obvious way anyway.
Darkmore Penitentiary (Supernatural Prison for Dark Fae Book 1) Page 20
